“DISAPPOINTED” yells Gary Oldman, while playing General Zorg, in the 1997 film, The Fifth Element.
This is also Ben’s @Watmighthavben lead line in his most recent post.
I too am disappointed ... I predicted, incorrectly, that we would see the next MAST data cut at the AARC conference. Not the end of the world of course ... just a little disappointing. Davy called it correctly ... but clearly, he is far more sensible than myself. I love the IMU science so much ... I become very impatient waiting for my next dose of data.
In the interim, while we wait for this much anticipated data cut, I will share with you part of a conversation myself, and a fellow IMU investor, had with the lead scientist of another Australian bio-tech, just yesterday. This other team is not working with cancer, they are focusing on one of the big issues that may come with an aging brain.
I quizzed the good doctor about a pseudo-trial (my words) that he had developed. It is called bioMUSE and operates much like a Phase 2 trial ... only it doesn’t.
Let me explain ...
I suggested it was a bit like a scientist’s sandbox, a trial where you get to try almost anything, and then make changes whenever you saw something interesting. It is not constricted by set endpoints because that is not its purpose. It is almost a ‘design tool’, if you like. What it allows your team to do is identify key bio-markers, outcome measures, dosing levels and much, much more. How clever is this? Then you get to design a ‘real’ Phase 2 trial, with a much greater chance of success. You enter the ‘real trial’, pretty much knowing the end result. Very, very smart. He then admitted that a Big Pharma had it liked the concept so much they had already copied the structure.
Well, guess what? A company very close to our collective hearts has designed its own ‘sandbox trial’, just with a slightly different structure. This company calls its trial the MAST study !!! They are using this open, and very flexible trial, to design expansion trials that have a much better chance of success. It takes a little more time ... but wow, the benefits.
So, you can see why I’m so keen to see what is next. The next data set, the next trial expansion, the next ...
Unfortunately, this waiting can lead to uncertainty, and sometimes even fear.
Many thanks to@freebooter43 for posting the Warren Buffett quote re. FEAR ...
“ What investors then need instead is an ability to both disregard mob fears or enthusiasms and to focus on a few simple fundamentals"
Freebooter then adds some good points to consider:
1. Company fundamentals haven't changed.
2. Trials are still in progress.
3. Very sick patients are still seeing some control over their disease. Some have reduced tumour burden, or are cured.
So, it’s time for me to take my own advice ... take a deep breath ... and show a little more patience. The data is coming. Let it be wonderful.
All opinion, of course.
(20min delay)